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Our team at our offices across Brisbane ( Newstead, Murrarie, and Milton) and at North Lakes, are dedicated to assisting people to deal with what is often the most challenging thing they’ve had to face during their lives.

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WhathappenswhenmoneyisspentafterSeparation

An issue that often arises in family law property cases is whether property sold, or monies spent after separation, should be notionally added back to the property pool.

The answer is - it depends on why and how the money was spent.

This issue was recently considered by the court where a property was sold just before separation, and the husband received approximately $250,000. In the three years after separation he spent most of it. The wife argued that it should be “added back” and debited to the husband as partial property settlement already received by him.

The Full Court said “…. parties are entitled to reasonably conduct their affairs post-separation in a manner that is consistent with properly getting on with their lives and if money is to be ‘added back’ some three years after it was spent, account must be taken of what the evidence reveals about what was spent on ‘ordinary living expenses’ and of the financial circumstances of the parties more generally.” In this case the Court looked at what the husband had spent the money on and found that a considerable portion of the money had been spent on ordinary living expenses, including food.

In those circumstances, the money spent was not added back.

On the other hand, we have been involved in cases where money has been gambled, or wasted, or spent inappropriately or extravagantly, where the court has added back the lost monies, or adjusted the settlement in other ways to recognize the wasteful or inappropriate spending by one party.

Macpherson Family Law are Specialist Family Lawyers and Divorce Lawyers with offices across Brisbane (Newstead, Milton and Murarrie) and also at North Lakes.

Our Newstead office services all of North Brisbane, including Ascot, Clayfield, Hamilton, Eagle Junction, New Farm and Teneriffe.

Our Milton office services all the Western Suburbs areas, including Indooroopilly, Toowong, Kenmore, St. Lucia, Chelmer.